Sepsis, an overwhelming microbial infection of the blood, is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States and is responsible for 6% of all human deaths. Sepsis represents a large and growing burden in the healthcare setting due to increased prevalence of antibiotic resistant strains.
Delivering rapid, cutting edge molecular methods at the point-of-care (POC) can greatly enhance an ability to diagnose and treat sepsis and combat the rise of multi-drug-resistant strains by precise early determination of appropriate antibiotic coverage.
Current sepsis management is severely limited by an inability to rapidly diagnose the pathogen(s) responsible for a critically ill patient's infection. When untreated, septic patients typically have hours to live. Thus, blood cultures are drawn from a patient at the time that sepsis is suspected and 3-4 broad-spectrum intravenous antibiotics are introduced to eliminate virtually all potential pathogens. Treatments are only de-escalated three to five days later as laboratory results return, indicating the pathogenic strain and its antibiotic sensitivity profile. Due to the extended length between diagnosis and de-escalation of treatment there remains opportunity for improvement.